


Just for a Moment

by MyriahKamm



Category: Free!
Genre: Comfort, Ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-07 07:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyriahKamm/pseuds/MyriahKamm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys of Free! watch a horror movie, and Rin ends up with nightmares. Leave it to boyfriend Rei to take care of things. ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just for a Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from toxixpumpkin (http://toxixpumpkin.tumblr.com/). Congrats on completing your exams! :)

_The protagonist on the screen glanced around slowly, apprehensively. He jumped when a bird flitted overhead among the trees of the forest he found himself in. There was a sizable amount of fog surrounding him, making visibility incredibly low, which didn't help matters much. The scene shifted to a view through the protagonist's eyes. He looked left, then slowly looked right, before continuing down the path before him. A moment later, the sound of labored breathing came from behind him, and he stopped. He turned slowly, whimpering in fear, and found himself face-to-face with a pale-skinned, eyeless ghost. The ghost shrieked at the camera and reached toward it with long, bony fingers._

Makoto cried out in terror and hid behind Haruka, who himself was staring passively at the television screen, seemingly unmoved by the horrific scene playing before them. Nagisa knelt close to the TV, wide fuchsia eyes reflecting the flickering light as the movie reached its climax. Rei was watching the movie intently, probably analyzing exactly how the producers had created the ghosts on the screen.

And all the while, Rin feigned boredom. He would never let the others know that horror movies freaked him out. It would ruin his reputation. He was the tough guy, after all. Not to mention the fact that he was trying to impress Rei by not being scared of some pathetic CGI ghosts. So he watched the movie, watched the ghosts appearing out of nowhere to frighten and attack the protagonists, watched several of them suffer horrific deaths, and didn't bat an eye.

The five boys were at Rei's house, since Rei's family had the largest television. Nagisa had been the one to suggest that the five of them watch a horror movie together. The blonde was really the only one of them who actually _liked_ horror movies, but most of them hadn't had any better ideas what to do with their evening. Makoto, the holdout, had reluctantly agreed when Haru had promised he could use him as a shield if he needed to.

By the time the movie was over, everyone was either bored with it or terrified, save Nagisa. He was still as excited as ever, chattering noisily about how cool the ghosts were and how the ending for the movie was just perfect. He seemed intent on making everyone endure a retelling of the plot before Makoto interrupted him.

“I can't believe you made us watch that, Nagisa!” the brunette exclaimed, still clinging to Haru's arm tightly. “It was terrifying! I won't be able to sleep a wink tonight!”

“But wasn't it thrilling, Mako-chan?” the blonde asked, grinning. “Those ghosts were intense!”

“That's the problem!” Makoto whined. “They were really scary!”

“They weren't _that_ terrifying if you take into account the fact that they were _obviously_ computer generated,” Rei chimed in, adjusting his glasses. “Once you take the realism away it isn't so frightening.”

_If only it was that simple,_ Rin thought. _Those things were so freaky it's not even funny._

“What did you think, Haruka-senpai?” Rei asked, looking at the obsidian-haired teen.

“There wasn't enough water,” Haru muttered.

“Rin-chan, you liked it, right?” Nagisa inquired, giving Rin a hopeful look.

“It was pretty boring,” Rin lied. “Like Rei said, the ghosts looked really fake. Not very scary.”

Nagisa frowned. “Was I the _only_ one who liked the movie?”

“Next time, _I_ get to pick what we watch,” Makoto muttered.

“Awwww, guys, c'mon! It was fun, wasn't it?” Nagisa looked at each of his companions one at a time, his frown steadily deepening. “Guys?”

“Give it up, squirt,” Rin chuckled, patting Nagisa on the back. “You'll just have to watch horror movies on your own from now on. Or maybe with Rei, since he seems to enjoy analyzing the crap out of everything.”

Nagisa took to pouting, folding his arms across his chest quite comically and sticking out his bottom lip like a spoiled child.

“Unfortunately, I must ask you all to leave now,” Rei said apologetically. “Rin and I are going to do a bit of studying before it gets too much later.”

Makoto and Nagisa shared a look, the latter giving up on his pouting for the moment. The two of them grinned before looking between Rin and Rei.

“'Studying',” Nagisa said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Right.”

“I have no idea what you're suggesting, Nagisa-kun,” Rei shot back, straight-faced as ever as he adjusted his glasses.

“We've seen the looks you've been giving each other,” Makoto pointed out with a warm smile. “We're happy for you two.”

Rin and Rei glanced at each other before looking away hurriedly and blushing. Rin caught a glimpse of Haru smiling, too, which made him blush all the more. Rei cleared his throat and made a show of adjusting his glasses yet again.

“All right, Mako-chan, Haru-chan!” Nagisa chirped, his disappointment with their reactions to the movie seemingly forgotten. “Let's give these love birds some privacy!”

The three of them left, leaving a very flustered Rei and indignant Rin behind. The pair of butterfliers made their way into Rei's room. They spent around fifteen minutes studying before both giving it up as a lost cause due to the late hour. Instead, they changed clothes and climbed into bed.

Rin was having a hell of a time trying to get to sleep, though. It seemed like every time he closed his eyes, he felt a chill run through him. Every time he was nearly asleep, he would hear a sound that jolted him awake. He kept imagining seeing one of the ghosts from the movie just out of the corner of his eye.

Rei, of course, was sleeping perfectly soundly. He probably _never_ got so scared he couldn't sleep, Rin was sure. How freaking lame. The azure-haired teen was actually freaking smiling in his sleep, almost as though mocking the redhead.

_It's not so easy for everyone to explain away their fears,_ Rin thought grudgingly, flinching when he heard what sounded like a creaking floorboard. _Damn him and his ability to analyze everything away. And damn him for having such a creaky house._

He wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually he managed to fall asleep.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_It was cold. Rin could see his breaths, wisps of smoke exiting his mouth as he panted. He was running from something. But what was it? All he knew was that, whatever it was, he didn't want it to catch him. If it did, he knew he was going to die._

_His foot caught a boulder and he fell, landing hard on the ground, breaking his wrist. He didn't exactly feel any pain, which he found odd but chalked up to adrenaline. When he heard the sound of heavy breathing behind him, he turned onto his back, eyes widening when he found himself face-to-face with a horrific, ghostly version of his sister._

_Her eyes were gone, leaving only gaping black sockets. Her hair was scraggly and paler than normal, hanging off her head like pieces of string. Her skin was bluish white and looked clammy. Something black and viscous was dripping out of her lipless mouth to fall on his legs._

_Rin crawled back away from her, but she grabbed onto his ankle, her bony fingers digging into his skin. With a strength no corpse should possess, she dragged him back toward her until he was lying beneath her. She shook him violently._

“ _Stop it!” Rin cried in terror. “Leave me alone!”_

_The ghost's eyeless sockets narrowed. She raised her bony, claw-like hand above him..._

A slap to his cheek startled Rin awake. He blinked a few times, panting with the lingering terror of his nightmare. Rei was hovering over him, glasses off, a look of concern on his face.

“Are you all right, Rin?” he asked softly.

“Y-yeah...” Rin sat up, running a hand over his face to wipe the cold sweat away from it. He sighed, relieving some of the tension in his body. The tightness in his chest began to subside. “...damn horror movie...”

“I didn't hurt you, did I?”

Rin looked at Rei, brow furrowing. He touched his cheek where the blue-haired teen had slapped him. As his heartbeat slowed to a normal tempo, he felt a slight stinging pain in his cheek. But, honestly, he would rather have that slight pain over the terror he'd felt in his nightmare.

“Nah,” he muttered, shaking his head. “...thanks. For waking me.”

“Do you...want to talk about it?”

Rin looked at his companion, frowning. “Talk about what?”

“Your nightmare,” Rei said matter-of-factly, as though it was obvious.

“No.”

He didn't want to remember the damn thing, although he was sure he wasn't going to forget it anytime soon. Why had it been Gou? Why couldn't the ghost have been his father? That would have been something he was more used to. He had nightmares about his father all the time.

Grabbing his phone suddenly, Rin sent a quick text message to his sister. He just wanted to make sure she was okay. He stared at his phone until it buzzed in his hands, indicating a response. He checked the message, met with a string of obscenities about him waking her at two in the morning. Breathing a sigh of relief, he texted her an apology and set his phone aside.

He flinched when he felt Rei's hand on his shoulder. He was _way_ too jumpy at the moment. Glancing at the _megane_ , he ran a hand over his face again.

“...sorry, Rei...” he muttered with a scowl. “You should go back to sleep.”

“Are _you_ going to be able to sleep?” Rei asked, moving his hand to his face to adjust his glasses before realizing he wasn't wearing them. A faint blush of embarrassment crept into his cheeks the way it always did when he made this particular mistake.

Rin folded his arms across his chest, looking away.

“I'll stay up with you,” Rei offered softly.

“I _don't_ want to talk about it, Rei.”

“You don't have to talk about it. We can talk about something else.”

Rin glared at the sheets bunched around his waist. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want to talk about _anything_. What he wanted was to know that he was safe, to know that Rei was safe. He wanted to know that nothing could hurt him, not here. He wanted to know that no ghost was going to come and scare him to death.

“Rin?”

“Just go back to sleep,” he snapped. He hadn't _meant_ to sound so angry, but he was so done with talking at the moment.

“...may I hold you?”

Rin's gaze shot toward the azure-haired teen's face, his own eyes widening in shock.

“...huh?” he asked, dumbfounded.

“It would help me sleep,” Rei explained with a warm smile. “Please, Rin. Just for a moment.”

“Fine. Just for a moment.”

Rin turned his back to Rei and lay down, pulling the sheets up over him. A moment later, he felt Rei climb under the sheets behind him, felt his arms slipping around him. The younger teen pulled Rin back against his chest, spooning behind him.

At first, Rin was tense. They'd never done anything like this before. To be more accurate, _no one_ had ever done anything like this with him before. Honestly, though, it felt...right. He felt safe like that. He relaxed in Rei's arms, letting out a shaky breath. Tears filled his eyes, but he fought them back. This was what he'd wanted, but he hadn't known how to ask for it. Heck, even if he'd known how, he never _would_ have asked for it.

All too soon, though, Rei's arms started moving, releasing their hold on him. Rin felt his chest tighten in panic. He wasn't ready for it to be done. He grabbed Rei's arm tightly.

“No,” he murmured in a pleading tone.

“No?” Rei responded quietly.

“...don't let go.”

“All right.”

Rei's arms settled around him again. After a moment, Rin turned over so he was facing his boyfriend. He buried his face in Rei's chest as the tears began to fall. He wrapped his arms around the other teen, sniffling, trying to calm his breathing to keep from sobbing.

“Why didn't you mention that the movie scared you?” Rei asked him softly.

“I...I couldn't tell anyone that!” Rin half-growled and half-sobbed. “It would r-ruin my reputation!”

“Makoto-senpai had no problem admitting he was scared.”

“Y-yeah, but we all _expect_ Makoto to be a-afraid of things! I'm the t-tough guy! Hell, I s-survived living in Australia! I should b-be able to take a s-stupid horror movie!”

“You could have told _me_ you were scared,” Rei whispered, pulling Rin impossibly closer to him. “If you'd have told me, I could have held you all night. Maybe you wouldn't have had a nightmare, then.”

Rin wiped his eyes roughly. “...I was...trying to impress you.”

“You don't _have_ to impress me. I don't care if horror movies scare you. I'd much rather _know_ they do so I can comfort you if you need it. You don't have to put on an act around me.”

“There'd better be something _you're_ afraid of, so I can comfort _you_ sometime,” the redhead murmured.

“Of course there is. But it's a ridiculous thing to be afraid of.”

Rin looked up to meet his gaze. “What is it?”

“I'm afraid of not being good enough.”

“For the swim club?”

“No. For you.”

Rin's eyes widened. “...huh?”

“You're such an amazing person, Rin,” Rei said quietly, a blush creeping into his cheeks. “You're an incredible swimmer, you've done some amazing things with your life like going to Australia, and you're incredibly ambitious. How can I measure up to that?”

“You're kidding me, right?” Rin shook his head. “I'm selfish, I'm distant, and I never tell anyone how I'm feeling. You, on the other hand...” He touched Rei's cheek. “You're sincere, and you're caring, and you _always_ put everyone else before yourself.” He lowered his gaze, frowning a bit. “If anyone's not good enough, it's _me_.”

“I love you just the way you are, you know.”

“Yeah.” Rin met his gaze again, grinning a bit. “Right back at you. Silly obsession with over-analyzing everything and all.”

“Would you look at that.”

“Huh?”

“You're not shaking anymore,” Rei pointed out. “And I got a smile out of you.”

Rin pressed a light kiss to the azure-haired teen's lips. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“I suppose you want me to let go of you now, hmm?”

“...nah. You can keep holding me for a while longer, if you want.”

Rather than replying, Rei tightened his grip on Rin. The redhead buried his face in Rei's chest once more. As he started drifting off to sleep, he came to a realization.

_If **this** is what happens when I'm scared, maybe we should watch horror movies more often..._

**Author's Note:**

> Eh, this turned out a little sappier than I intended at the end...but it fits pretty well. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> P.S. I'm suddenly a huge fan of Rin calling Nagisa "squirt". I have no idea where that came from (my brain is weird), but it's totally a headcanon now. :P


End file.
